The new cultivar was discovered as a result of a planned breeding program directed by the inventor, Howard Bentley a citizen of Australia. ‘Bentley’ is a selection arising from the controlled self-pollination of an unnamed, unpatented variety of Lavandula stoechas. Parents of the unnamed parent variety are the result of cross-pollination of Lavandula stoechas ‘Kew Red’ (unpatented) as the female parent, and Lavandula stoechas ‘Pukehou’ (unpatented) as the male. Cross-pollination of the grandparent plants took place in Park Orchards, Victoria, Australia in November 2001. From this cross the F1 generation was raised in February 2002 and grown to flowering maturity in September 2002. At this stage the F1 generation was self-pollinated and the seed sown in February 2003. From these F2 seedlings a selection was made of the seedling now referred to as ‘Bentley’ in September 2004, by the inventor in a research nursery in Wonga Park, Australia.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘BENTLEY’ was first performed the Spring of 2005, by vegetative cuttings at a research nursery in Wonga Park, Australia. Multiple generations have since been produced and have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.